Civil Services Board Interview 2011-12 – IAS Topper Rakhee Mayuri -135th Rank

UPSC Civil Services Board Interview 2011-12 – IAS Topper Rakhee Mayuri -135^th Rank

An Exclusive Interview

Name: Rakhee Mayuri 

Rank: 135^th Rank

Roll No: 062096

Board Chairman: I.M.G.Khan

Interview started at 1.15 p.m. and went on for 35 minutes.

Strategy

·        Its important to understand that all the aspects of the interview needs to be practiced. Right from the way we walk, the dress we are going to wear, the way we react when we face a question not know to us etc.

·     The interview day and the half an hour or so you spend with the board are the most important minutes of an aspirant s life. If you cannot win the board with your answers, try winning them by your mannerism.

·    Preparing bio data is the most important aspect of preparing for the interview. Questions on hobbies, Home town, home district needs to be prepared like we do in mains-making points, arranging the points to give a logical answer etc. But we also  need to practice it  standing in front of the mirror.

·        Mocks are helpful in opening up, and reducing the initial hesitation while answering questions. But too many mocks might end us in a situation where spontaneity and originality is lost.

·    The last thing to do would be lie or beat around the bush in the interview. Its advisable to apologies for not knowing the answer and move on.

·       Try to look, talk and walk confidently, while entering and leaving the board room. Look into the eyes of the member and talk to the point and be precise. But don’t stare at them at the same time.

·        There is no need to do anything which is not inherent in your character. Try to have a sense of humour, but don’t go overboard or try too hard.

Questions

My interview started at 1.16 p.m.

Chairman sir greeted me and asked me to take seat.

Khan sir-So, Rakhee, You have stayed in Sikkim

Rakhee-Sorry Sir, I have stayed in Bhutan and Not Sikkim, where my Father was working on Chukha Hydel Project.

Khan Sir-Do you remember anything of Bhutan, given that you were very young then??

Rakhee-Yes Sir, I do have fond memories of the Place, the climate.

Khan Sir-Your Father was working on a dam in Bhutan. Do you think it is advisable to build dams in rocky terrains like that?

[at this point ,I remembered that Dams in Arunanchal Pradesh and the protests against them was in news.]

Sir, I agree that building dams on a large scale in an earthquake and landslide prone zone is hazardous. Even the three gorges dam has been declared to have deteriorated the ecosystem as well as the slope aspects in China.

But sir, development of the region needs industrial base, which needs cheap source of electricity.

Also, the rivers in eastern and western Himalayan region have very high HEP potential.

Hence, building dams seems to be inevitable.

However, a proper Environmental Impact Assessment, Inclusion of the views and clarifying all apprehensions of stakeholders needs to be done before starting the process.

Also, we cannot build very large scale dams in these eco-sensitive zones. Technical limitations need to be specified and guidelines followed in doing so Sir.

What hazards do you think are these areas prone to??

Sir, the Eastern Himalayas fall under Seismic Zone 4, hence is highly prone to Earthquakes. Recent Assam Earthquake is an example of the unpredictability of the zone

Landslides are very common in this area during monsoons, and also the intensity has increased due to deforestation.

In Bhutan, Glacial lake outbursts are also recorded sir.

Khan Sir-You mentioned glacial lake outbursts, do you know of a recent incident where glaciers caused deaths?

Yes Sir, In Siachin Glacier region, where Pakistan Army lost its men due to an accident.

Khan Sir-What do you think, is it economical by any way, the siachin military posts? Why India doesn’t vacate the Military posts at siachin?

Sir, Siachin is a strategic location as far as India is concerned because it overlooks Karakoram Pass, and is the gateway to central Asia .It is important to India, regarding its geopolitical position with respect to Pakistan and China.

After Operation meghdoot, India had to maintain its position and posts there, even though it has costed India precious lives and money.

Sir, the only way out to the siachin problem for both India and Pakistan is to initiate and proceed with proper dialogues, to reduce the trust deficit.

Member 1-mayuri, you have taken Public Administration as your optional what have you learnt from it?

Sir, I have learnt through barnard, the importance of communication, mary parker follet talks about the interpenetration .her Idea of conflict resolution has practical applications in administration….[interrupts]

Any thing else, anything about governance?

Sir,Good Governance.

Define Jurisprudence??

[Sir had asked me to DEFINE and not explain jurisprudence]

Rakhee- Sir, I cannot recall the definition of jurisprudence. But I can explain it.

Member-it’s Ok.

Second member

Rakhee, tell me, do you think that the dowry laws and clauses are unnecessarily targeting men? There have been cases where women are misusing this clause. What are your views about it??

[Tried to be light hearted….] Sir, I think you think that there should be Gender Equality in dealing with Section 498Aof Indian penal Code??

Sir-Laughed, yes yes...

Rakhee- I think that the idea by itself is great. But in 2011,there were 8000 dowry deaths according to govt of India websites.

Along with this, national Human rights commission reports also shows the many more number of cases where they have intervened in cases of torturing the female for dowry..We have large no. of NGOs [named some of them don’t remember now] working towards rehabilitation of females who were physically and mentally abused to the point of permanent damage.

I understand that there have been dharnas going on by men that this Section be Diluted.

But in my view, a blanket dilution should be ruled out. We HAVE[stressed on this word] to be biased towards women in dealing with these cases.

Dealing case by case and that too,having a good judgement by the administrator is required in finding out the culprit..

Sir-good

Member 4-So, you watch documentaries. What sort of documentaries do you watch.

Rakhee-[I became very specific here, as I wanted my interview to centre around women and related issues.]

Sir, I watch documentaries on problems of Indian women, and initiatives taken to help their situation.

Members were still looking at me, so I did not stop.

Sir, for example…..[talked in detail about 4 documentaries, including their title, the documentary maker, what the documentaries were about, and what I learnt from it.]

Member 1-What is the difference between Indian and USA federation Mayuri?

 Rakhee-Sir, among others the foremost difference is in the Residual Powers, which is with States in USA, but with Centre in Indian Federation.

Member 1-What Do you think is the problem with National Counter Terrorism centre...

Rakhee- Sir, the problem here is the Investigation Powers given to NCTC, which override the Police Powers for Investigation. But another Problem here that has come in newspapers is that the states were not well informed before constituting the NCTC.

Member 4-Do you know any other agency that doesn’t have to take permission from State for Investigation??

Rakhee – I m sorry Sir, I can’t recall

Member 4- Enforcement Directorate

Rakhee-Thank you Sir, I will remember this.

Member 5-So, rakhee, you talked about health of Indian women. What do you think is the major diseases in rural and urban India??

Rakhee- Sir, may I differentiate between Rural and Urban Diseases?

Member-5-yes

Rakhee-Urban Indian Diseases are mostly lifestyle related, such as Diabetes, Heart diseases, where we are at the topmost slots in the world. Cancer cases have been increasing lately, around 80 lakh cases per year. In rural India, as India has only 8% sanitation facilities and around 65% of rural population doesn’t have sanitation facilities, communicable diseases such as Diarrhea, Cholera are very prominent.

India has one of the largest number of cases of AIDS, Tuberculosis, hepatitis, among others sir.

Member5-do you think rural India is not affected by lifestyle diseases?

Rakhee-yes Sir, there was a recent report that malnutrition is also a major cause for Diabetes

Member 5-very good

Member 4-Rakhee, you haven’t watched any wild life documentaries?

Rakhee- [again I was specific about names]

Yes sir, I do watch Man versus Wild by Bear Grylls, but not totally wild life documentaries.

Member 4-have you watched a documentary on Bhutan?

Rakhee-Sorry sir, I am not aware of it. But would like to watch it, if you  please mention the name. [Sir mentioned the name]

Member 4-So Rakhee, You passed your engineering long back, have you been working??

Rakhee-No Sir, I was married in my fourth year of engineering. My husband is in Merchant navy, and stays away for a good 9 months a year. I have a 7 year old daughter to take care of. Hence I started my preparation very late. UPSC was always in my mind, but was waiting for apt time.

Khan sir-So Rakhee, Where have you sailed with your husband?

Rakhee- yes sir, almost 4 years.

Khan Sir-so, where all have you been?

Rakhee- Sir, all the world, specifically, in Rio di Janeiro ,Macapa, Santana on Amazon River, Gulf of Mexico ,Ports of Mexico, Greater Antilles, France in Bay of Biscay, Taiwan, Japan …the list went on, and Khan Sir did not stop me..

Khan Sir-So, you have seen the world where we never have been

Rakhee- Yes sir and the world is beautiful. The insights I got from visiting these places has made me a better human being. I can understand the cultures better.

Khan Sir-Rakhee, tell me, how do protect our coastline.

Rakhee-Sir we have coast guards, marine police, Navy ships guard our coastline.

Khan Sir-What are our resources on the coastline Rakhee

Rakhee-Sir, We have abundant energy resources, such as offshore petroleum and natural gas, whose exploration is done according to NELP sir.

We also have deep sea minerals, such as magnesium nodules which India is a Pioneer, we also have also utilized wind energy with the coastal winds.

 Khan sir--Rakhee,what do you think should be done to develop coastal resources.

Rakhee- Sir, we need to explore tourism opportunities along the coast, especially ecotourism. This will go well with the new coastal regulation  rules .Energy resources…[was interrupted]

Khan sir-how??

Cruise Liners is the area, where India has still not ventured into. We need to have more cruise liners, and good hospitality Industries along the coastline to compliment it.

Khan Sir-Ok Rakhee,Thank you.

Rakhee-Thank you sirs, have a good day.